The Ducks faithful arrive early on Thursday

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For Stacy and Gilberta Sugita the Stanley Cup playoffs began more than an hour before the doors opened to the Honda Center.

The Sugitas along with their friend Pam Okamoto and the two huge, angry looking inflatable hockey players standing in the Katella Ave. parking lot were at the front of the line for Thursday’s playoff game featuring their beloved Ducks and the Dallas Stars.

But they weren’t alone for long. Within a half hour more than 100 fans were standing with them, waiting patiently for the doors to open.

Most all were there for the Ducks, wearing jerseys of players past and present. Stacy Sugita and Okamoto, however, chose to be different. They showed up in homemade T-shirts. Stacy’s had a Stanley Cup on the front, while Okamoto’s had a big black No. 8 and “Finnish Flash” painted on the back. She stayed up until 3 a.m. Thursday morning to finish it.“I had to make sure all the lines were perfectly straight,” Okamoto said.

A few hearty souls showed up in Stars’ gear, and walked among the crowd without creating even the slightest stir.

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